One year after Jennifer Aniston shared how “excited” she was to star in and executive produce a new series based on “iCarly” alum Jennette McCurdy’s novel, the “Morning Show” star has backed out of the project, TMZ reported on July 21, 2026.
A source told TMZ that the show is still in the works, with scripts being written, but that Aniston has quietly exited the project due to scheduling conflicts. That’s a huge loss to the show, which Aniston had previously predicted would be “wonderful” to work on.
Jennifer Aniston Said in July 2025 That Her New Series Was Going to Be ‘Wonderful’
GettyAppleTV+ announced in July 2025 that it would produce a new series based on McCurdy’s 2022 bestselling novel, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” and that Aniston was at the forefront of the project, having agreed to play a fictionalized version of McCurdy’s mom.
“When it came across my desk as an option, an offer to play this character and work with Jennette and Sharon Horgan and LuckyChap, I was pretty much immediately intrigued and flattered and excited,” Aniston told People at the time. “It’s going to be wonderful. It’s going to be pretty great to start shooting it.”
Aniston also told the outlet that McCurdy was “so special” and that her memoir was “so beautifully written,” adding, “The fact that she’s the young woman that she is, having lived that life, is nothing short of remarkable.”
In McCurdy’s book, she details her relationship with her mom Debra, who died in 2013, claiming that she forced her into acting as a child, allowed her to be exploited by industry insiders, and looked the other way as her daughter developed an eating disorder.
Aniston was drawn to the book in part because it reminded her of her own childhood, she told People, noting that she and McCurdy had “very similar mothers.” Aniston’s mom, Nancy Dow, died in 2016.
According to Vogue Australia, Aniston told The Sunday Telegraph two years later of her mom, “She was a model and she was all about presentation and what she looked like and what I looked like. I did not come out the model child she’d hoped for.”
Jennette McCurdy Has Not Commented on Jennifer Aniston’s Status
According to the synopsis, in the “I’m Glad My Mom Died” series, “an 18-year-old actress in a popular children’s show navigates her complex relationship with her narcissistic mother, who thrives on being ‘a starlet’s mom.'” There’s been no word yet on if the starring role has been cast.
The production has undergone some challenges even before Aniston backed out, according to TMZ. In the fall of 2025, per TMZ, Puck reported that the series’ director, Jason Reitman, had already left due to “creative differences” with McCurdy, who didn’t want Reitman to make the show funnier than her memoir.
According to TMZ, a new director has yet to be named. McCurdy has not commented on that or Aniston’s status; on July 21, she posted a six-month anniversary celebration for her second book, “Half His Age.”
